The present invention relates to a toy football, and more particularly to a propeller enhanced toy football.
Toy soft foam elastomer footballs are known, and because they are soft and usually of a smaller size than regulation footballs, they are recommended for indoor play or play with or among small children.
Toy footballs or the like with rearwardly projecting fins are also known, e.g. see U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D346,001; D361,811; and D442,655; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,284,341; 5,269,514 and 3,225,488. The fins tend to help regulate the flight path of the football to assume a more even and regular flight path after it has been thrown.
However, no toy footballs are known which have both fins and a motor driven propeller, the latter of which provides improved stability and aerodynamic properties.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a toy football of the above general type, which provides improved stabilization and/or overcomes deficiencies in the prior art.
The present invention comprises a soft football made of foam plastic or foam rubber or the like, preferably with a skin, having a tubular recess in which resides a battery pack and motor. Attached thereto, and extending from the back end of the football, are a plurality of axially and radially projecting aligned fins and a propeller which is driven by the aforementioned motor. The fins and motor driven propeller cooperate to provide improved stabilization for the football during flight.